Partial Replacement of Damaged Gym Floor Underway at Bensalem High School

About two months after storms caused close to $250,000 in damage to the yet-opened gym/community center at , removal of the some of the maple floor got underway this weekend.

But there's still a chance the Fighting Owls basketball teams may have to play some of their early home games, which begin in December, at the former Armstrong Middle School.

“We have a Plan B but we're still optimistic (of the first home game being held at BHS),” Superintendent David Baugh said last week.

District business administrator Jack Myers said the floor removal began Saturday.

“This past week, the insurance company and the floor installer reached agreement on price, just under the $242,000 originally quoted, thus the work began to replace about 10,000 square feet of the floor,” he said Monday. “In conjunction with this, the manufacturer has agreed to provide a full warranty – 60 years – removing that as an issue.”

Earlier this month, Myers explained to Patch there was concern the repairs, which include refinishing, would essentially cut ten years from the warranty because the floor is supposed to be sanded every ten years.

Replacing the entire 27,000-square-foot floor, he had explained, would have cost the district $460,000.

In addition to the floor work, contractors have to repair dry wall damaged by the storms along with heating/ventilation/air conditioning equipment.

“The HVAC repairs are ongoing and should be completed by the time the new floor material is put down a few weeks from now,” Myers said Monday. “We're not certain of a completion schedule.”

The boys' first home game is scheduled for Dec. 15 against Holy Ghost, according to Athletic Director Val Ridge. The girls' first home game is slated for Dec. 13 against Academy Park, she said.

Ground was broken for the 45,000-square-foot facility in July 2009 and district officials were planning a grand opening this summer. But HVAC equipment arrived more than seven months late from Jordan, according to district officials. And then “lots of water” got into the building during the August storms, Myers said.

As a result, the basketball teams have been working out at the high school and the Armstrong building, which was closed for classes in 2005. Their first day of practice is scheduled for Nov. 18, Ridge said.

The gym project has carried an estimated price tag of $15 million, with the township providing a $2 million state grant and $2 million of its own cash. The new facility features a three-court gym with seating for 1,700 and an elevated track.